---
title: "Farmer or Agricultural Manager"
description: "Plan, direct, or coordinate the management or operation of farms, ranches, greenhouses, aquacultural operations, nurseries, timber tracts, or other…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/farmer-or-agricultural-manager"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Farmer or Agricultural Manager

**Category:** Management · **SOC code:** 11-9013 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 11-9013.00

Plan, direct, or coordinate the management or operation of farms, ranches, greenhouses, aquacultural operations, nurseries, timber tracts, or other agricultural establishments. May hire, train, and supervise farm workers or contract for services to carry out the day-to-day activities of the managed operation. May engage in or supervise planting, cultivating, harvesting, and financial and marketing activities.

Also advertised as: Aquaculture Director; Farm Manager; Farm Operations Technical Director; Fish Hatchery Manager; Greenhouse Manager; Harvesting Manager; Hatchery Manager; Hatchery Supervisor.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $89,900 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $43.22/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $54,320 to $160,020, with the middle half between $66,300 and $118,860
- **Total US employment:** 6,500
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -3.4% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 70,800 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 60/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 6,500 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $54,320 |
| 25th | $66,300 |
| 50th (median) | $89,900 |
| 75th | $118,860 |
| 90th | $160,020 |
| Mean (average) | $99,820 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| NE | $111,460 | $123,703 | 200 |
| MT | $110,250 | $116,488 | 30 |
| CA | $109,140 | $98,573 | 1,650 |
| WA | $103,240 | $96,474 | 140 |
| KS | $102,490 | $113,792 | 40 |
| IL | $99,440 | $99,482 | 120 |
| GA | $95,900 | $99,592 | 50 |
| MS | $95,210 | $109,496 | 80 |
| NY | $89,370 | $82,811 | 130 |
| FL | $87,080 | $84,205 | 320 |
| NJ | $86,380 | $79,390 | Not published by BLS |
| WI | $86,320 | $91,737 | 30 |
| TX | $85,990 | $88,597 | 610 |
| IN | $83,100 | $89,040 | 90 |
| MI | $82,620 | $85,868 | 270 |

15 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 30 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/farmer-or-agricultural-manager/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/farmer-or-agricultural-manager.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 788,700 in the 2025–2035 base year to 762,200 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 26,500 jobs, or -3.4%. Declining: -3.4% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 70,800 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Medium preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** 5 years or more.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

## What the work involves

- Collect and record growth, production, and environmental data.
- Determine how to allocate resources and to respond to unanticipated problems, such as insect infestation, drought, and fire.
- Inspect facilities and equipment for signs of disrepair, and perform necessary maintenance work.
- Prepare reports required by state and federal laws.
- Coordinate clerical, record-keeping, inventory, requisitioning, and marketing activities.
- Maintain financial, operational, production, or employment records for farms or ranches.
- Determine plant growing conditions, such as greenhouses, hydroponics, or natural settings, and set planting and care schedules.
- Direct and monitor the transfer of mature fish to lakes, ponds, streams, or commercial tanks.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Management of Personnel Resources — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Negotiation — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Administration and Management — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Production and Processing — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Biology — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Personnel and Human Resources — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Inductive Reasoning — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Enterprising (E), Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| E — Enterprising | 5.52 |
| R — Realistic | 5.16 |
| C — Conventional | 4.53 |
| I — Investigative | 2.74 |
| S — Social | 2.63 |
| A — Artistic | 1.06 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ESTJ | 89.0 |
| ISTJ | 80.8 |
| ESTP | 70.6 |
| ESFJ | 70.3 |
| ISFJ | 66.1 |

Best-fitting types: ESTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Agricultural Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/agricultural-technician) — median $49,630
- [Agricultural Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/agricultural-engineer) — median $98,590
- [Soil and Plant Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/soil-and-plant-scientist) — median $78,850
- [First-Line Supervisor of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-farming-fishing-and-forestry-workers) — median $59,320
- [Agricultural Sciences Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/agricultural-sciences-teacher-postsecondary) — median $98,700
- [Biofuels Production Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/biofuels-production-manager) — median $126,060
- [Buyer and Purchasing Agent, Farm Products](https://nuecareer.com/careers/buyer-and-purchasing-agent-farm-products) — median $77,710
- [Food Scientist and Technologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/food-scientist-and-technologist) — median $88,720
- [Precision Agriculture Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/precision-agriculture-technician) — median $49,630
- [Range Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/range-manager) — median $73,010

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/farmer-or-agricultural-manager